“Fish?” Tao Er looked at the steamed fish over and over again. Why would someone set up so many formations in a food box just to hold a steamed fish?
“Why did Immortal Venerable Bu send you steamed fish?”
“I told you last time.” Jiu Hui brought out the fish and pointed at her face. “I’m just a tool he uses to reminisce about the past.”
“After Bu Ting joined the Jiutian Sect, he was accepted as the last disciple by the previous sect master. He established his foundation at the age of eighteen, formed his golden core at thirty, and reached the Nascent Soul realm at fifty. He was as famous as Qiu Hua, and countless people in the cultivation world saw him as the hope for ascension. They had seen the most beautiful scenery in the world and met the most outstanding people in the world. Over the years, countless people had been infatuated with him.” Yu Jing looked at the steamed fish on the table: “For an Immortal Venerable of their status, if they treat someone with a little bit of difference, it can make people daydream, even go crazy for it.”
“It brings me great joy to see you so clear-headed.” Yu Jing extended her chopsticks, separating the fish head from its body. “You are only eighteen years old. Do not concern yourself with the occasional favoritism of those in high positions. They can bestow favor upon anyone at their whim, but your path of cultivation can only be forged by your own feet.”
“I understand, Master.” Jiu Hui picked up a piece of fish belly meat. “It’s okay to eat fish, but you can’t let yourself become a fish.”
Zhi You, who was sitting next to Jiu Hui, tasted a piece of fish. “It’s not good.”
He put down his chopsticks and used a handkerchief to wipe the corners of his mouth. “The fish was too old and not tender enough.”
“Is it not tasty?” Tao Er took two more big bites. “I think it’s quite tasty.”
“Is that so?” Zhi You said indifferently.
Tao Er put down his chopsticks in a huff. “It’s not… it’s not particularly delicious.”
“Immortal Venerable Bu is indeed blessed with good looks, but he’s already seven or eight hundred years old. To you young people, he’s practically an old man,” City Lord Tao said with a chuckle. “Men tend to reminisce about their youth as they age.”
Fortunately, Miss Jiu Hui was a clear-headed person, so Immortal Venerable Yu didn’t have to worry about her. It was a pity that not everyone was as clear-headed as Miss Jiu Hui, otherwise the cultivation world wouldn’t have repeatedly spread stories about some aloof Immortal Venerable and his charming female disciple.
“Cultivation is timeless, the higher the cultivation, the longer one lives. Bu Ting is not considered an old man.” Yu Jing couldn’t help but chuckle, “But there’s some truth to what he said. After all, only a man can truly understand another man.”
Tao Er glanced at his father from the corner of his eye. “Father, don’t tell me you have some fond memories of your youth. Otherwise, I’ll tell Mother to break your old legs.”
“You unfilial son!” City Lord Tao took off his shoe and threw it at Tao Er. “Your mother and I were childhood sweethearts. Even if I have fond memories, they’re of your mother. Don’t make trouble for me out of nothing!”
Tao Er dodged to the side and accidentally bumped into Zhi You. Zhi You dodged forward and knocked over the steamed fish on the table.
Jiu Hui held her chopsticks, looked at the overturned steamed fish, and blinked at Zhi You.
“This was an accident.” Zhi You took out a box of food from his storage ring and pushed it in front of Jiu Hui. “Here’s to make it up to you.”
He took the chopsticks from Jiu Hui’s hand and flicked his sleeve, throwing the steamed fish out. Jiu Hui looked out and saw that the fish had landed in a river before turning to say to Zhi You, “Don’t litter.”
Zhi You collected all the chopsticks on the table. “I only threw it because I knew there was no one below.”
How could he know if there was anyone below without looking when he was flying so high? Tao Er doubted Zhi You was bragging, but he didn’t dare to say it.
However, there was one thing he understood clearly, Immortal Zhi You really did not like this steamed fish dish.
Eager to return home, the group did not delay on the road, traveling at their fastest speed. After sending the three members of the Tao family back to Taolin City, the three masters and disciples of Jiu Hui did not even disembark from their flying magic weapon, and went straight back to Wangshu Pavilion.
Upon learning of their return, the Elders and their disciples rushed over and gathered for a grand feast. They then divided the spoils of the trio’s mooching session before contentedly departing with their disciples.
“Master.” Jiu Hui touched the Cat-Chasing-Bird hairpin by her temple and walked up to Yu Jing. “Your disciple has something to ask…”
“The disciples of Wangshu Pavilion cultivate according to their own fate. As long as you don’t harm your fellow disciples or the innocent, you are free to do as you wish.” Yu Jing reached out to help her adjust the Cat-Chasing-Bird hairpin on her bun. “I don’t want to bother with your trivial matters. As long as you don’t cause trouble for the sect, then go with the flow.”
“If I do cause trouble……”carpreads.pages.dev
“Do you know why, according to the sect’s records, none of the disciples have ever caused any trouble?” Yu Jing smiled gently. “Because any disciple who causes trouble can no longer be considered a member of Wangshu Pavilion.”
Jiu Hui’s eyes widened.
“Are you scared?” Yu Jing chuckled. “Master is just teasing you.”
Jiu Hui: “…”
“The sect records don’t mention any disciples causing trouble because none of our Wangshu Pavilion disciples have ever caused any major problems.” Yu Jing pulled her up and led her to the main hall where the disciples’ life soul lamps were placed.
Rows of life soul lamps were neatly arranged on all four sides of the main hall. Except for the dozen or so lamps that were still lit on the east side, all the soul lamps on the other three sides were extinguished.
“The soul lamps of our ancestors are all here.” Yu Jing took three sticks of incense and bowed to the dim soul lamps. “Our Wangshu Pavilion’s sect jade pendant is different from other sects. Our sect jade pendant contains the sword intent and magic intent left behind by our founding ancestor before his ascension. Even if someone has high aptitude, they won’t be able to make the jade pendant glow if they have no connection to our sect.”
Jiu Hui took the incense and followed behind Yu Jing, bowing and offering incense to the ancestors.
“You’re the young disciple who has lit the sect’s jade pendant the brightest.” After inserting the incense into the incense burner, Yu Jing turned to look at Jiu Hui. “Whether it’s between master and disciple or fellow disciples, the most taboo thing is suspicion and doubt. As a teacher, I’m lazy and don’t like to care about what the younger generation does on a daily basis, but I believe that you won’t do anything to harm the sect.”
“If a person doesn’t have any secrets when they’re young, what’s the point of living?” Yu Jing took out a few tattered spell books from her storage ring and stuffed them into Jiu Hui’s hands. “Take these and practice them with Zhi You. Unless it’s something that could shake the sect, don’t bother telling me about it.”
Jiu Hui held the magic technique book and quickly inserted the incense. She flipped open a page at random: “Master, our sect actually still has records of lost magic techniques like the Soul-Extraction Technique and the Transformation Technique?”
“Of course, we are an old sect with thousands of years of heritage after all.” Yu Jing spoke casually, as if the spell books she had taken out were just some roadside storybooks. “However, recording is one thing, whether or not you can learn it is up to you. None of your senior brothers and sisters have been able to comprehend it. You have lit up the jade pendant the brightest, so you should be better than them.”
The more Jiu Hui read, the more she felt that it wasn’t her fellow disciples’ fault that they couldn’t learn these magic techniques. Rather, these magic techniques were simply too advanced. Those whose cultivation wasn’t high enough simply couldn’t use them.
“Master, how brightly did Zhi You attract the jade pendant?” Jiu Hui put away the book and began to wonder about Zhi You’s fate with the sect.
“Have you heard the saying that the light of a firefly cannot compete with the brilliance of the moon?”
Jiu Hui nodded.
“If you are the bright moon, then Zhi You is but a firefly.” Yu Jing sighed. “The cultivation world is getting worse with each generation. Disciples who are fated with our Wangshu Pavilion are already rare, so I won’t be picky.”
Even the light of a firefly was still honorable, no matter how small. As a master, it was not good to be too harsh.
“Go back and rest early. In a few days, it will be the mortals’ most important holiday, New Year’s Eve. For the next half a month, neither you nor Zhi You will need to go to the Elders to study magic techniques. If you have nothing to do, go out and hang out with your Senior Brothers and Sisters.” Yu Jing had a typical hands-off approach to her disciples. “New Year’s Eve only comes once a year. You can cultivate anytime, so when it’s time to play, play hard.”
“I will remember it, Master.” Hearing that she would not have to practice the spell books for half a month, Jiu Hui’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Master. I will take my leave.”
“Go on, go on.” Yu Jing chuckled. “Remember to tell Zhi You.”
“Got it.” The voice lingered, but the person had already run far away.
That was more like it. Who in the world genuinely enjoyed going to school?
Jiu Hui skipped and hopped back to her small courtyard. Seeing that the candlelight in the neighboring courtyard was still lit, she knew that Zhi You hadn’t gone to bed yet. She jumped over the fence and knocked on the door. “Zhi You, are you asleep?”
The door to the room opened, and Zhi You turned to the side. “Come in and talk,” he said.
“I’m going to Taolin City tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?” Jiu Hui took out the magic technique books her master had given her and put it on the table. “We don’t have to go to the elders’ place to study for the next half month. My master gave us these magic technique books so we can practice them slowly.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Hmm, is there a problem?” Jiu Hui ate the fruit on the table.
“Alright.” Zhi You nodded. “I’ll go with you.”
Bai Qi, who had been turned into a hairpin, shook his head silently in his heart. This little yao girl’s fellow disciple was still too young and didn’t know how terrifying it was to accompany a woman shopping.
“Then I’ll come and wake you up tomorrow morning.” Jiu Hui stuffed all the magic technique books to Zhi You: “You can take these books and read them first. Give them back to me when you’re done.”
After speaking, she didn’t care whether Zhi You agreed or not. She stuffed a few of his spirit fruits into her sleeve and left.
After Jiu Hui left, Zhi You put away the yellowed and worn-out magic technique books neatly, and casually picked up the topmost one and opened the first page.
Nine Heavens Soul-Breaking Sword Technique?
Wasn’t this… the sword technique of the Jiutian Sect?
He continued to flip through the pages, Nine Heavens Soul Severing Technique, Heaven-Breaking Divine Sword Technique, Nine Elements Unification Technique…
Did the ancestors of Wangshu Pavilion go to Jiutian Sect to act as spies? They were so familiar with the various sword and magic techniques of Jiutian Sect.
Flipping to the next book, it finally wasn’t the Jiutian Sect’s magic techniques, because it recorded the magic techniques of other sects.
Zhi You closed the tattered book and suddenly understood.
No wonder Wangshu Pavilion had not cultivated any outstanding disciples in over two thousand years of inheritance. It turned out that the hobbies of the disciples of all generations were not cultivation, but rather stealing other people’s belongings. Gold, silver, jewelry, magic techniques, alchemy recipes, spirit stones, and magic treasures. They would steal anything that others were reluctant to give up.
These were not books of magic techniques at all, but rather the painstaking work of generations of disciples over the past two thousand years.
Jiu Hui returned to her room, removed the hairpin, and restored Bai Qi and the Linchi bird to their true forms. “You can temporarily live in Wangshu Pavilion, but remember not to harm my fellow disciples or the innocent. As long as you have such thoughts, the restriction on your body will be activated. At that time, what will happen…”
Bai Qi and the Linchi bird shivered together, huddled in a corner.
Relying on his early acquaintance with Jiu Hui, Bai Qi wagged his tail and said flatteringly, “Rest assured, how could we dare to harm your fellow disciple? I’m just worried that your fellow disciple will find something wrong with us and cause you trouble.”
“Do you think my master didn’t notice you?” Jiu Hui yawned. “Rest assured, our sect has a thousand-year-old turtle in the lake, golden toad spirits in the pond that have just learned to speak, and a few little monsters that have developed spiritual intelligence. You two more won’t make a difference.”
“Your sect is so indiscriminate that you even use toads as mounts?” Bai Qi was very shocked.
“Who asked you to use them as mounts?” Jiu Hui poked Bai Qi with her finger, flipping it over and rubbing its furry belly. “We at Wangshu Pavilion don’t have the habit of using yao beasts as mounts.”
Bai Qi’s doubts deepened. The people in the cultivation world had always hated and despised yaos. How could there be a righteous sect that allowed so many yaos to stay in the sect and not let them be mounts?
Was this Wangshu Pavilion legitimate?
The next morning, Bai Qi boldly wagged its tail in front of everyone in Wangshu Pavilion. After learning that it was brought back by the little yao girl, they didn’t even bother to look at it.
No, weren’t you guys curious?
A white cat that looked like a tiger and a qiongqi was wandering around in front of you, and none of you were suspicious?!
How could you call yourselves righteous cultivators when you were so reckless and casual in your actions?!
Bai Qi walked to the lakeside with mixed feelings. A giant hawksbill turtle emerged from the lake, its eyes wide open. Was it really a hawksbill turtle that should have been in the sea, but had come to Wangshu Pavilion?
“Are you the little fat cat that Jiu Hui brought back?” Prime Minister Wu tossed two fish onto the shore. “They’re a gift from this Prime Minister. Eat as much as you want.”
Bai Qi didn’t eat raw fish, so he kicked the fish back into the lake. “How did you know I was brought back by Jiu Hui?”
“The whole island has heard about it. Any little yao with a bit of intelligence knows that Jiu Hui brought back a fat cat and an ugly bird.” Seeing that Bai Qi didn’t eat his fish, Minister Crow wasn’t angry. “I heard that you’re going out with Jiu Hui. Er Miao from the Jixiang Pavilion asked you to bring back the meat buns from Wang Dagou’s family. Don’t buy the wrong ones. He doesn’t like meat buns from other families.”
Bai Qi wanted to say, what kind of low-level little yao was Er Miao, how could he be worthy of having his Lord Tiger buy meat buns for him? But thinking that he had just arrived at Wangshu Pavilion and couldn’t offend the sect’s demon group, he readily agreed.
He was a tiger destined for greatness, and he could endure this minor grievance. One day, he would become the boss of all the monsters on this island!
Bai Qi, who was responsible for buying meat buns for his future little brother, took the initiative to ask Jiu Hui if he could accompany her to Taolin City.
“Yo, you didn’t take the chance to escape?” Jiu Hui lifted Bai Qi onto the flying sword and put him down. “I thought you had already snuck away last night while I was sleeping.”
Bai Qi stole a glance at Zhi You, who was walking with Jiu Hui, and seeing that he didn’t react to his presence, he said, “You helped me escape from the Jiutian Sect, you are my benefactor. I, Bai Qi, am not an ungrateful wretch. I’ll stay by your side for the time being, and you can order me around.”
“Really?” Jiu Hui chuckled softly, not exposing its true intention of wanting to stay at Wangshu Pavilion for free food and drinks. “Fine, I’ll take you and Linchi to Taolin City.”
Linchi lay obediently on the sword, not daring to make a sound. But when it thought of Jiu Hui going to Taolin City to help it find the “Divine Fortune-Teller” who had cheated it of its silver, it got a little excited!
He was a little yao who had just learned how to transform a few years ago, and it was hard for him to earn money in the human world.
“Zhi You, aren’t you curious?” The two flew side by side on their swords in the air. Jiu Hui saw that Zhi You hadn’t asked a single question, so she took the initiative to lift Bai Qi up. “Look at this cat.”
Zhi You stared at the cat for a moment, thinking that Jiu Hui wanted him to praise the cat: “It’s well-fed, with thick fur and plump flesh.”
“You don’t have to compliment everything.” Jiu Hui rubbed the cat’s head. “What I mean is, why aren’t you curious about the fact that I have a cat now?”
“I know,” Zhi You said quietly. “It was hiding in your room that night when you went out to admire the moon with Qiu Hua without me.”
“Didn’t I bring you along later?” Jiu Hui put Bai Qi down. “I didn’t mean to hide it from you.”
However, there were too many people in the Jiutian Sect, and she couldn’t expose Bai Qi’s existence.
“I went and found you, so you took me with you.” Zhi You explained in a serious manner, “If I hadn’t gone to find you, you wouldn’t have taken me with you, right?”
This was deliberate concealment.
Jiu Hui realized that they were not talking about the same thing at all.
“I apologize.” Zhi You turned his face away, looking forlornly at the rolling clouds. “I have always lived alone in the mountains, never had any friends, and I don’t know how to get along with others. I have never seen how magnificent the mountains and rivers are, and I am not as knowledgeable as Bu Ting. You don’t have to do everything with me. It was wrong of me to ask.”
“This, this…” Jiu Hui saw that Zhi You was feeling lonely and sad, so she quickly tried to comfort him. “Although Immortal Venerable Bu is handsome and knowledgeable, he’s an old fogey. How can he compare to you? You’re even more handsome than Immortal Venerable Bu, and you’re my fellow sect member. How can the closeness of our relationship be the same?”
“Really?” Zhi You looked at Jiu Hui, his clear and clean eyes were extremely bright, as if the sunlight that had penetrated the clouds had all entered his eyes.
“Really!” Jiu Hui nodded heavily, absolutely certain.
Zhi You’s mouth corners curved up slightly, revealing a smile. He rarely smiled, and at this moment, just a hint of a smile was enough to move people’s hearts. Even the strands of hair half-tied behind him seemed to be filled with his joy.
Bai Qi wagged his tail and buried his head in his belly.
What a foolish human! How could you easily believe what the little yao girl said? She was a little liar who said she likes Grandpa Long the most today, Aunt Jiao the most tomorrow, and Uncle Liu the most the day after.
“We’ve arrived at Taolin City.” Jiu Hui snapped out of her reverie from Zhi You’s smiling face. Before she landed her flying sword, she turned her head and promised Zhi You, “I’ll call you next time.”
Upon hearing this, Zhi You’s eyes and brows were filled with laughter.
Thousands of miles away, the Fuguang Palace was still covered in snow that never melted, just like in the past.
In the quiet and cold inner chamber, a jade pearl fell to the ground, making a piercing sound.
The neatly arranged puppet dolls all turned their stiff heads in unison, looking at the only thing that had made a sound.
“It’s broken.” The puppet spoke in a voice devoid of emotion. “The Immortal Lord’s prayer beads are broken.”
“The Immortal Lord is in meditation and cannot be disturbed.”
The puppets twisted their heads back.
The jade pearl rolled into the snow and was quickly buried by the falling snowflakes.
Author’s Note:
Wangshu Pavilion’s ancestors: We’re not shearing sheep, we’re saving up for our descendants’ future!
Innocent Zhi You: The fish was knocked over by me accidentally. The table can testify for me.
Bai Qi: Is this Wangshu Pavilion legit?
Poor Zhi You: It’s all my fault. I didn’t do well enough~